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	Subtopic	Started By	Posts
	Archive through Jan 02, 2004 Last Post: Oct 18, 2004, 04:34 am		20

Posted By: Hyperion Jan 06, 2004 - 11:24 am

Hey Hey

I quite favour both myself, I often write down ideas on a pad with my favourite comfy pen and then bring those ideas and notes to fruition on the computer.

Plus I can go straight into Microsoft Word and start a story from scratch that way, open a few notepad txt documents to in order to jot down plot outlines or technology history or political history what-ever, and then devlop the story in the ms word doc as I go.

I do however have a major problem with reading on a computer, I mean I can do it but if I don't have to I won't, I think the only things I do read on my computer now is my own work and computer tech documents, along with the odd computer programming book - BUT I will NOT read a good story-book on the compuer, I simply cannot do it heh, it has to be on paper in book form

Hyperion out

Posted By: Aldan Jan 09, 2004 - 04:42 pm

Yeah, I agree with hype. Paper books are just comfortable. Also, once you've read a paper book, it becomes a part of you, since your fingers have turned the pages, leaving potential minor smudges, your sweat has made its mark on the pages, and you have "broken" the binding yourself (in a new book), so it gives an almost virginal feel to the experience, which helps to create a connection to the book you read. A computer can't do much of that for you. However, WRITING a book by computer is SUCH a great help!

Posted By: MrD Oct 16, 2004 - 01:53 pm

minimise the word processing software so you have a rectangle the width of your margins but only about 20 lines, have other images/text in the rest of the screen if you want them there to fill a need.

having too large a blank page is a psychological problem. looking at the screen when you type is another one, try not looking too much when you type. you can easily edit afterwards and cut'n'paste facilities help so much.

i do have a major problem with monitors regarding checking my work. i can go over the work full screen editing for spelling/grammar, but i find reading hardcopy to be the ultimate test, even after checking on the monitor i find mistakes on hardcopy i just don't find on the monitor! i find myself once a week using the college printers where i study part time to make hardcopy (saves on paper and ink costs at home!!) and go over the work then.

this method also ties in with being unable to see on the spot where passages don't work, many people come back to their work days/weeks later and see how it doesn't sound right, even cringeworthy.

i have tried software like Dragon Speaking Naturally and lately IBM Via Voice 10, but they just don't seem to work well with conjuntions and other small simple words. you can easily type at 50wpm but talk at 100wpm and i seriously looked into it as a nice aid to writing. we looked at it at my last workplace, a solicitors, but the staff reckoned it didn't recognise legal terms, complicated words. you can train the software to accept them, it's a learning curve for the software, but being unable to get it to recognise simple words was the big letdown. i don't think my accent is too heavy either.

Posted By: fire365 Oct 17, 2004 - 06:30 pm

You could try using a typewriter (I know gasp were not talking about the stone ages here.) There is a feeling of more invovment with a typewriter as oposed to a computer and can help with those who like the feeling of making a pysical copy of something.
Chris

Posted By: Magus Oct 18, 2004 - 04:34 am

I thought that I posted here? I must have posted it one some other, closely related, topic. But that never stopped me from voicing my opinion so far and I don't imagine it will stop me now.

I like using a computer for my writing, as opposed to writing it out. It is quicker and easier. It is far easier to edit. It helps me, personally, focus my thoughts and clear my mind.

And while it does lack the same accessability as simply writing on a piece of paper, just whip it out and write, it is much better to use. And, even then, you could just write it out and then copy it onto your computer.

With a computer you have all of your other documents available for easy reference. You also have the world at your fingertips, pardon the pun, what with the internet.

Posted By: Talon Sinnah Oct 18, 2004 - 07:13 am

I usually handwrite.

Posted By: Magus Oct 18, 2004 - 01:06 pm

Is there any particular reason? Or does it just feel right to you?

Posted By: Some Idiot Oct 19, 2004 - 03:47 am

Magus makes a good point, editing is far easier on the computer, but sometimes that can work against you. Personally, I only jot ideas and brief paragraphs in a journal, as they strike me. I can hardly read my own hand writing, and it only gets worse as my hand tries to keep up with my imagination. To me, that becomes a severe handicap.

On the other hand, some people may find that they have to pry off the backspace key so they don't find themselves wearing it out... that was a problem for me. I kept editing while I was writing, and that meant I never got anywhere.

Posted By: Gnollslayer Oct 19, 2004 - 12:31 pm

I wrote my first novel-length manuscript by hand, and my second one on the computer. I'm more pleased with the cohesiveness and style of the second one, but the characters of the first seem to jump out more. Also, there are some really good scenes that would have been cut if I'd had a backspace key.

Posted By: Aldan Oct 19, 2004 - 06:36 pm

Of course, Gnollslayer, cohesiveness and style will continue to grow and develop as you develop as a writer, but the characters will often "jump out more" with a first novel. One reason is that the characters are less "camouflaged" by the stylistics and such, and another is because your first characters will tend to really stand out FOR YOU, since they were your basepoint. Do you remember your first date? How about your 24th? I know I don't remember much about the later ones, especially since while they were just as interesting and sometimes much more fun, they weren't the huge step that the first date was.

Posted By: Eleika Oct 19, 2004 - 11:26 pm

MrD - I'm a big fan of the full-screen, have been since I first started using Word for Windows 2.0 on my old 386 when I was a wee young thing. I'm also a writer who tends to stare at a blank page for awhile. I always chalked it up to me being lazy or bored, or simply the creative process.

But I tried your suggestion. It's ... well, I literally said, "Oh, my" to myself. It's rather attractive. Since I keep my Livejournal client at about that same size, it even has a sense of familiarity. And I never have trouble writing in my livejournal!

Thank you. This is awesome. I'm definitely going to give it more of a try for awhile.

Posted By: Magus Oct 20, 2004 - 05:41 pm

Hey Eleika and Aldan! Those are two names I haven't seen around so much as of late.

But I agree with you Aldan. The first is always the most memorable and sticks out all the more vividly in your mind.

Posted By: Eleika Oct 20, 2004 - 10:53 pm

Well, I gave MrD's suggestion a try today. I had to finish up a short story for the ezine I work for, and I actually slogged through the last two pages without any of that "staring at the blank screen" syndrome. It was nice.

Yeah, Magus, sorry I haven't been around much. School's been killing me ... almost literally, too (but that's a story for another time). I'll be back probably in the spring, unless my courses are just as bad then. If not, see me in the summer ... I'm done my courses in April and graduate in June! (Yaaay!)

Interestingly enough, I'm taking a children's lit course this semester. It doesn't have a fantasy focus (there is one that does, sigh) but it is about historical children's fiction. We're even reading a book that deals with 9/11. The course is educating me about writing in ways I never imagined, and I think I actually prefer that I got this one, and not the Fantasy one that everyone talks about.

Posted By: Magus Oct 21, 2004 - 03:50 am

Well, welcome back regardless.

Posted By: Aldan Oct 22, 2004 - 11:06 pm

Something similar happened for me when I was attending school, Elei. I just on a whim decided to take a poetry course - not because I wanted to learn how to write it, but because I wanted to learn how to READ it. It was that class that helped me to realize that I actually seemed to have some talent at creative writing, and it was that impetus that started me on the road I'm now trying to follow.
Any of you out there that are currently in school, I strongly suggest to you that you, if at all possible, take a class or two that you're not really interested in for your career or a hobby, but that just looks like it'd stretch you. Otherwise, you'll have no idea just how beneficial it may be for you, not only in the short term, but for years to come as well...